Researcher loses part of leg 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
A famous shark researcher who said his knowledge of sharks kept
him from being bitten lost part of his leg to one on Wednesday as he
led a class on the predators' behavior.
Erich Ritter, 43, was in waist-deep water with four students at
Walker's Cay in the Bahamas when what was thought to be a big
lemon shark bit off a large portion of his left calf. He went into
shock and was flown to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm
Beach. Hospital officials confirm Ritter was treated there, but would
release no further information.Ritter, who lives in Miami, has told the
media he can keep sharks away by modifying his heart rate. In August
2000, he told The Associated Press he had never even been nipped, attributing
that largely to his ability to understand sharks' body language. Ritter
could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Shark scientists in Florida weresaddened to learn that Ritter was
bitten. But they said they put little credence in his ideas on shark behavior.
"That was an accident waiting to happen," said Samuel Gruber, a
University of Miami professor and director of the Bimini Biological
Field Station in the Bahamas. Ritter taught classes with Gruber in
Bimini for about five years, and Gruber said Ritter is a good lecturer,
but does not rely heavily enough on the scientific method.
"Erich takes certain chances based on what he thinks he knows
about shark behavior, but there is no evidence to support his
theories," he said. "He's more like a philosopher than a scientist."
He has seen Ritter on television, standing in shallow water in the
midst of bait and lemon sharks. "Seeing him in the water with those
animals swimming around his legs like that, that just bothered me.
Frightened me, actually," said Gruber.
But the pictures were beautiful, Gruber said. "I would be frightened
to do what he did, but he had gotten away with it for several
years."
According to Ritter's Web site, he is a dive instructor and a
professor at Hofstra University and the University of Zurich, where
he received his doctorate in behavioral ecology.
Arthur Myrberg, also a marine science professor at the University of
iami, said Ritter has great belief in his ideas, but they "have never
been reviewed by experts in the field."
yrberg studies animal behavior and said anyone who does
recognizes certain patterns than can help predict what an animal
will do. However, these patterns are far from foolproof. "You would
be lucky if it would work 50 percent of the time."
Of the accident, Myrberg said: "It does demonstrate that a shark
specialist can get bitten like anybody else."
Shark bites remain rare, scientists say.
George Burgess, the marine biologist who is director of the
International Shark Attack File, said so far this year, seven people
have been bitten by sharks in Florida, two others in Hawaii, and 14
worldwide. This does not include what happened to Ritter.
Ritter had been conducting the class at a dive site where tourists
commonly feed sharks, a practice that the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission last year outlawed.
Both Ritter and Gruber testified against the ban. Ritter said there
was no scientific evidence to support a ban.
Burgess did not testify, but considers shark feeding dangerous.
Normally, sharks fear humans and swim away from them, he said.
But feeding teaches sharks to associate human beings and the
noises they make with food.
Staff Writer Nancy Othón and The Associated Press contributed to
this report. Submitted on 04/11/2002
Submitted by:
joelnichols@mindspring.com
Reference:
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL
Copyright © 2002 DarwinAwards.com
|
